Cubs, Starlin Castro Working On Long-Term Deal

FRIDAY, 5:58pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that it would be a six or seven-year contract with a club option for one additional year. Castro is a Super Two, so the Cubs would be buying out all of four years of arbitration eligibility plus two or three free agent years. Talks continue to progress and a deal could be completed by next week.

THURSDAY, 10:58pm: Castro's agent Paul Kinzer confirmed to Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com that he has had talks with the club about a new deal. "I've been working with the Cubs on contract negotiations for a period of time," Kinzer said. "Starlin would like to be a Chicago Cub for many years to come."

8:23pm: The Cubs are working on a long-term deal with shortstop Starlin Castro, two industry sources told David Kaplan of CSNChicago.com. The deal could be for six or more years and is expected to be finalized before the end of the 2012 season.

A six-year deal would buy out Castro's remaining arbitration years and two years of free agency which he would reach after the 2016 season. Castro's agents at Wasserman Media Group are likely to look at fellow shortstops Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, and Troy Tulowitzki as possible comps for the 22-year-old.

Earlier this year, Mike Axisa estimated that the Cubs will have to spend roughly $20MM to cover his arbitration years and $12-15MM for each year of free agency. Theo Epstein & Co. have an additional year of arbitration to cover as the shortstop is likely to qualify as a Super Two.

One baseball source opined to Kaplan that the Cubs were foolish to promote the shortstop as early as they did in the 2010 season. Had they waited longer to bring Castro to the big leagues, they could have delayed the start of his service clock and prevented him from achieving Super Two status.

Castro's offensive production hasn't been as strong as it has in the previous two seasons as he's hitting .276/.307/.422 with 12 homers in 495 plate appearances. Defensively, Castro has a UZR/150 of 5.1, the best of his three campaigns.